


Fire That You Started in Me

by ellipsometry



Series: ✧SASO 2017✧ [18]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fireman!Ushijima, M/M, breakup and makeup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 04:32:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11959803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellipsometry/pseuds/ellipsometry
Summary: Dating Oikawa is a lot like dating a forest fire, Ushijima discovers.Ushijima quietly and steadily builds a bridge between them, and Oikawa (perhaps on accident, perhaps out of habit) burns it all down, piece by piece.  So, they break up.  Or, rather, Oikawa breaks up with Ushijima.Oikawa breaks up with Ushijima.  Ushijima saves him from a fire anyway.





	Fire That You Started in Me

**Author's Note:**

> [written for SASO 2017 bonus round 6!](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/24968.html?thread=15672456#cmt15672456)

Dating Oikawa is a lot like dating a forest fire, Ushijima discovers. 

As a fireman, Ushijma may have a lot of experience with real fires, but Oikawa is another matter entirely. He’s an uncontrollable force, often stubborn and immovable. The more Ushijima tries to soothe him, the more Oikawa fights back, turning everything into a fight, refusing to go down quietly, refusing to let go of the pride that kept him at arm’s length from Ushijima for so long. Ushijima quietly and steadily builds a bridge between them, and Oikawa (perhaps on accident, perhaps out of habit) burns it all down, piece by piece.

So, they break up. Or, rather, Oikawa breaks up with Ushijima.

“ _You’re_ the one that got dumped, Ushiwaka,” he says, a trembling finger prodding Ushijima’s chest, “Not me. Don’t forget that.”

It’s just a point of pride, one that Ushijima is more than willing to concede.

Ushijima has never been good at keeping his distance from Oikawa, but he manages pretty well for the next few months, focusing on his work and his hobbies and his friends. He starts a new herb garden on his balcony; he goes out with Tendou for drinks more often than he really should; he saves a lot of cats from trees.

And then, on the way to a distress call for an electrical fire at an apartment building, Ushijima is seized with a terrifying bit of deja vu.

“This is Tooru’s building,” he whispers, and no one but Reon, sitting next to him, hears the terror in his voice.

And, as usual, Reon anticipates what he’s thinking, “I’ll cover the hose for you, go make sure he’s okay.”

Ushijima doesn’t need to be told twice. They pull up in front of the building and Ushijima moves through the crowds of people gathered outside with amazing dexterity, considering the weight of the equipment he’s wearing. Oikawa isn’t outside, which means he must still be stuck inside, and the fire already waning but it’s strongest near the second floor on the east side, right where Tooru’s apartment is.  
The living room where Oikawa first kissed Ushijima, the bedroom where they lay for hours, the kitchen where Ushijima told Oikawa that he loved him (and Oikawa, feigning reluctance, had returned the sentiment) -- all of it is going up in flames.

Ushijima has never moved so quickly before in his life.

“Ushiwaka!” Except when Ushijima bolts into the stairwell that leads up to Oikawa’s floor, Oikawa is already there, halfway dressed in a white tshirt and the heart-print boxers Ushijima has teased him about countless times before. He’s covering his mouth with an elbow, and his eyes are red and bloodshot from the smoke, but he’s otherwise unharmed.

Ushijima says nothing, just bolts up the stairwell, two steps at a time, and grasps Oikawa around the waist, hoisting him up over his shoulder.

“What the--” Oikawa is difficult until the end, pounding his fists against Ushijima’s back, “Let me down! I can walk, you know!”

“Not the point,” Ushijima says, voice gruff, as he carts Oikawa out of the building, toward the patch of grass where the rest of the inhabitants are evacuating. Ushijima’s crew is making quick work of quenching the fire, but Ushijima can’t bring himself to unclench his grip on Oikawa.

“This is so undignified,” Oikawa groans, “I’m a grown man. A grown man with legs and I demand to use them.”

Ushijima pulls off his helmet, maintaining a vice grip on Oikawa’s thigh, “That would be unsafe. You are probably still faint from the smoke inhalation.”

“Smoke inhalation my ass, Ushiwaka!”

They bicker for a while, in their familiar way. Ushijima could probably parry Oikawa’s taunts in his sleep by now. The warmth of Oikawa against his back is comforting, so much so that Ushijima barely even notices the odd looks his fellow firefighters give him, or the slight reprimand from his supervisor.

“Wakatoshi-kun… what are you doing?”

Ushijima blinks, “I’m saving my my darling who dumped me.”

“Ushiwaka!” Oikawa goes red, slapping Ushijima’s arm, “The fire was put out twenty minutes ago!”

“Just--” Ushijima’s supervisor massages the bridge of his nose, “Just put the man down, Wakatoshi.”

Then, and only then, does Ushijima comply, hoisting Oikawa off his shoulders and setting him down on the soft grass of the lawn.

“Do you need a place to stay the night?” Ushijima asks, dusting some ash off Oikawa’s shoulder with a preternatural gentleness.

“No,” Oikawa snaps, “I can stay with Iwa-chan.”

Fair enough, Ushijima thinks. It was a long shot, after all. “Do you need a ride to Iwaizumi-san’s house?”

“No,” Oikawa repeats, before thinking again, “Actually, yes.”

Ushijima nods, once, “I will return in about an hour to pick you up. Will that be enough time for you to gather your belongings?”

“Yes,” Oikawa’s voice is softer this time, more vulnerable, and although Ushijima wants nothing more than to comfort him, it’s a line he can’t cross without implications. So he lets the boundary stand; the wall between them remains.

But, as always, Oikawa burns that barrier down at his own discretion, with just a touch, “Can we-- Ushiwaka,” he tugs at Ushijima’s sleeve, “Can we get something to eat? Before you drop me off? Getting your house burned down can make a guy pretty hungry.”

Ushijima’s face softens, in the way it only ever seems to do around Oikawa. He wishes he could hate Oikawa for that, “Of course. We’ll go to that sushi bar you like.”

It’s a game of risk and reward. The risk is that, eventually, they’ll both tire of the unforgiving push and pull; they’ll break each other’s hearts (again) and then break up (again) and pretend to move on (again). 

The reward, Ushijima supposes, is that he gets the privilege of loving Oikawa in the first place.


End file.
